History

Retrospective – foundations

5 October 1862On this day, a decree is issued: “private alcohol distillation is permitted in Altai!”
1867A merchant of the 2nd guild from Barnaul, Grigory Terentyevich Badyin, receives his permit to build a distillery.
1868Work begins on the Itkul Spirit Distillery.

Retrospective – 19th century

1869In the first year of production, 2,600 buckets are distilled and converted into 40-percent bread wine – or vodka.
1889Production capacity has increased by almost 1,000 times and this year, Itkul turns out 2 million buckets of bread wine.
1895A dynamo machine is imported from England. The plant is hooked up with electricity using a waterwheel as a power source. Despite its capacity of just 100 kW, this new innovation serves as an important milestone in the plant’s history.

Retrospective – early 20th century

1902A state monopoly on spirits is introduced. Itkul becomes the state’s official wine storage supplier. Deliveries are made primarily to the state stores in Biysk and Barnaul.
1902A new brick building is constructed at Itkul
1906Itkul becomes one of the largest enterprises in Siberia. The average production figure around this time is 290,000 buckets of spirits each year.

Retrospective – the Soviet era

1919On 1 June, the “dry law” is introduced and production is almost completely paralysed.
1920Production resumes using old reserves of spirits.
1925The industry begins its resurrection and the Itkul Distillery returns to normal production levels.
1930The NEP is replaced by state planning of the economy. Nearby cooperatives and state farms around Biysk are attached to the Itkul Distillery.

Retrospective – after the Second World War

1945Over the course of the Second World War, over 1 billion decalitres of spirits were produced, along with around the same volume of low-alcohol products.
1950sAfter the war, work begins to improve the quality of the distilled alcohol, in order to develop a potable spirit. Orders roll in from the development projects in northern Siberia.
1968The distillery is connected to the state central electric grid, which allows it to acquire more hardware and modernise its processes significantly.
1972A carbon dioxide department is launched, allowing the plant to expand its range of products.

Retrospective – late 20th century

1985Due to the introduction of another “dry law”, production of alcoholic beverages at Itkul is again greatly reduced.
1993The state monopoly on the production and trade of spirits and alcohol effectively comes to an end, leading to another sharp drop in production.
1996Itkul becomes an incorporated enterprise.

Modern day

Today, Itkul is a fully modernised facility and its annual production capacity stands at over 1 million decalitres of spirit and more than 2.5 million decalitres of vodka.

In late 2019, a controlling share was bought by the international group Marussia Beverages, rescuing it from bankruptcy. Itkul is now at the centre of an entire ecosystem, containing not only the distillery itself, but also a range of touristic, environmental, and social projects.